FUNDAMENTAL

PHYSICS I
(PHY 130)
UNIT 1:
SYSTEM OF UNITS

LESSON OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, student will be able
to:
Define what is a physical quantity
List the basic and derived quantities
Derive the units for basic and derive quantities
Convert units of physical quantity between SI and
non-SI unit
Conduct dimensional analysis for basic and derived
quantities.

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SCOPE OF STUDY
SUB TOPICS

Dimensional

Basic and Derived

Quantities

Analysis

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Unit Conversion

 System of units :

standard

for

measurement

of

physical

quantities.
use the International System of Units (SI) as a
global standard.
Significant figures : The number of reliably known digits in a number.
Eg: 23.14 ( 4 s.f )
Eg: 180 ( 3 s.f )
Eg: 180.0 ( 4 s.f )
Eg: 0.006 ( 1 s.f )
Decimal places : A position of a digit to the right of a decimal points.
Eg : 3.56 mm ( 2 d.p )
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Physical Quantities and Units

Physical quantity : quantity which can be
measured.
(a) Base quantity Basic of physical measurement.
(b) Derived quantity Combination of more than two
base quantities.

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Basic Quantity
Basic quantity : quantity which
cannot be derived from any
physical quantities.
Quantity
Length
Mass
Time

Symbol
l
m
t

SI Unit
metre
kilogram
second

Symbol
m
kg
s

T/

kelvin
ampere

K
A

Temperature
Electric current

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Derived Quantity
Derived quantity : quantity
which can be expressed in term
of
base
quantity.
Derived quantity Symbol Formulae
Unit
Velocity
Volume

v
V

Acceleration
Density

Momentum

m s-1
m3

s/t
lwt
v/t
m/V

m s-2
kg m-3

mv

kg m s-1

Force

ma

kg m s-2 @ N

Work

Fs

kg m2 s-2 @ J

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Dimensional Analysis

Dimension : method which the physical quantity can be

expressed in terms of combination of basic quantities.
It can be written as
[physical quantity or its symbol]
The dimension of basic quantities :
[Basic Quantity]

Symbol

Unit

[mass] or [m]

kg

[length] or [l]

[time] or [t]

[electric current] or [I]

A@I

[temperature] or [T]

[amount of substance] or [N]

mole

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The uses of dimensional analysis are

to determine the unit of the physical quantity.
to determine whether a physical equation is correct
or not dimensionally by using the principle of
homogeneity.
Dimension on the L.H.S. = Dimension on the R.H.S

to derive a physical equation.

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Example :
Determine a dimension and the S.I. unit for the following quantities:
a. Velocity
b. Acceleration
c. Linear momentum
d. Densitye. Force
Solution :

change in displacement
Velocity
a.
or

time interval

s
v
t
L
v LT 1
T

The S.I. unit of velocity is m s-1.

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b.

v
a
t
LT 1
a
T
a LT 2

c.

S.I. unit : kg m s-1.

Its unit is m s-2.

d.

m

V

m

l w h
M

LLL
ML3

S.I. unit : kg m-3.

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p m v
p M LT 1
p MLT 1

e.

F m a
F M LT 2
F MLT 2
S.I. unit : kg m s-2.

11

Example :
Determine Whether the following expressions are dimensionally
correct or not.
2

1
at s, u, a and t represent the displacement, initial
a. s ut
where
2
velocity, acceleration and the time of an object respectively.

b. v u where
2 gs s, u, v and g represent the displacement, initial
velocity, final velocity and the gravitational acceleration respectively.
c.

where T, l and g represent the period of simple

l
T 2
g of the simple pendulum and the gravitational
pendulum , length
acceleration respectively.

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12

Solution :
a. Dimension on the LHS : s L

Dimension on the RHS : ut u t LT 1 T L

1
2

and

at 2 21 a t 1 LT -2 T 2 L
2

Dimension on the LHS = dimension on the RHS

Hence the equation above is homogeneous or
dimensionally correct.

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13

-1

LT
b. Dimension on the LHS :
1

LT
Dimension on the RHS :

and

2 gs 2 g s 1 LT -2 L L2T -2
Thus v u 2 gs
Therefore the equation above is not
homogeneous or dimensionally incorrect.

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Solution :
c. Dimension on the LHS :T T

1
1
l

2
2
Dimension on the RHS : 2
2 l g
g

1
l
2
2

1
L
LT

l
T 2
g

Therefore the equation above is homogeneous or

dimensionally correct.
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21

Example :
The period, T of a simple pendulum depends on its length l,
acceleration due to gravity, g and mass, m. By using dimensional
analysis, obtain an equation for period of the simple pendulum.
Solution :
T l x g ymz
Suppose that :

T kl x g y m z (1)
Then
where k, x, y and z are dimensionless constants.

T k l g m
x
2 y
z
T 1 L LT M
x

T Lx y T 2 y M z
0 1
0
x y 2 y
z
LT M L T M
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By equating the indices on the left and right sides of the equation, thus

x y 0 (2)
2y 1

y 12 (3)

By substituting eq. (3) into eq. (2), thus

z0
x

1
2

Replace the value of x, y and z in eq. (1), therefore

1
2

12

T kl g m 0

l
T k
g
The value of k can be determined experimentally.
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01

17

Example :
Determine the unit of in term of basic unit by using the
equation below:
4
Pi Po
R
where Pi and Po are pressures of the soap bubble and R
is the radius of the bubble.
Solution :

F m a MLT
P

2
A A
L
R L
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ML T

18

1
R Pi Po
4
1
R Pi Po
4
Since

Pi Po thus
P

1
R P
4
1 L ML1T 2

MT 2

Therefore the unit of

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is kg s-2
19

Unit Prefixes
Prefix
tera

used for presenting larger

and smaller values.

Examples:
2700000 m = 2700 km =
2.7 Mm
0.00000476 s = 4.76 x
10-6 s = 4.76 s

Value
1012
109

Symbol
T

giga
mega

106

G
M

kilo

103

deci

10-1

centi

10-2

milli

10-3

micro

10-6

nano

10-9

pico

10-12

20

Unit Conversion

The conversion factors between SI and British units for length, mass
and force.

LENGTH

MASS

FORCE

1 m = 39.37 in = 3.281 ft

1 kg = 103 g

1 N = 0.2248 lb = 105 dyne

1 in = 2.54 cm

1 slug = 14.59 kg

1 ft = 0.3048 m = 12 in

1 lb = 0.453592 kg

1 mi = 1609 m

1 metric ton = 103 kg

1 angstrom (A ) = 10-10 m
21

Example :
Solve the following problems of unit conversion.
a. 30 mm2 = ? m2
b. 865 km h-1 = ? m s-1
c. 300 g cm-3 = ? kg m-3
d. 17 cm = ? in
e. 24 mi h-1 = ? km s-1

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Solution :
a. 30 mm2 = ? m2

1 mm

10 m

1 mm 2 10 6 m 2

30 mm 2 30 10 6 m 2 or 3.0 10 5 m 2
b. 865 km h-1 = ? m s-1
1st method :

865

10
m
1

865 km h

1
h

865

10
m
1

865 km h

3600
s

865 km h 1 240 m s 1

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865 km h

865 km h

865 km 1000 m

1 h 1 km

1h

3600 s

865 km 1000 m 1 h

1 h 1 km 3600 s

865 km h 1 240 m s 1
c. 300 g cm-3 = ? kg m-3

300 g
-3
300 g cm
3
1 cm

10 -3 kg

1g

300 g cm 3 3.0 105 kg m -3

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1 cm 3

10 -2 3 m 3

d. 17 cm = ? in

in

17 cm 17 cm
1 cm
17 cm 6.69 in
1
2.54

e. 24 mi h-1 = ? km s-1

24 mi
24 mi h

1h
-1

1.609 km

1 mi

1h

3600 s

24 mi h 1 1.07 10 -2 km s -1

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REFERENCE
S:
1. Giambattista, A., Richardson, B. M.,
Richardson. C, College physics, 3nd
Edition, 2010, Mc Graw-Hill
2. Halliday, D, Resnick, R and Walker, J,
Fundamental of Physics, 7th Edition,
2005
3. Knight, R. D., Jones, B., Field, S.,
College Physics, A Strategic Approach
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End of
Chapter 1
Whether you think you can or think
you cant, youre right. ~Publilius
Syrus

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